Cross-country mission called attention to military suicides, other veterans’ issues

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This photo was captured in Tehachapi, Calif., on day two of a 100-day cross-country bike ride to raise awareness about veteran suicides. Jeremy Staat, 35, a U.S. Marine veteran, is pictured in front, and Wesley Barrientos, 27, a U.S. Army veteran who is a three-time Purple Heart recipient and a double amputee, is using the hand-cranked bicycle. They are accompanied by supporters.

They knew it would be hard. They even likened it to a mini-deployment. But what these fired-up veterans didn’t expect was that their cross-country bike ride would involve so much injury — and would still be so rejuvenating.

Back in February, three war veterans — Jeremy Staat, 35, Wesley Barrientos, 27, and Dale Porter, 65 — set out to traverse the United States by bicycle in 100 days. Their goal was to make it from the Wall of Valor in Bakersfield, Calif., to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., by Memorial Day weekend.

Along the way, they wanted to stop and speak to veterans, students and community groups about issues that alarm them, including disturbing veteran suicide rates and the challenges many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans face accessing their health and education benefits once they return home.

The veterans accomplished much of what they set out to do, and on Monday, Staat and Barrientos will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Wall in D.C. with President Barack Obama. But not everything about their journey went according to plan:

On day five of the ride, Porter — a Vietnam veteran from Bakersfield — crashed hard on his bike and separated his shoulder so severely that he couldn’t go on.

Barrientos, a double amputee who lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq, experienced a rough spill while riding his hand-cranked bicycle in New Mexico near the Texas state line. The accident left him with a dislocated shoulder, a possible concussion and road rash over the left side of his body. After taking some time to rest, he kept going.

Just outside Memphis, Barrientos rode his bike over an unexpected bump. This time, he injured his shoulder so badly that he couldn’t keep riding. Nevertheless, he stayed on with the crew of the Wall to Wall Cross Country Bicycle Ride — just in a vehicle — and he continued speaking at dozens of events. He’s still waiting to find out whether he’ll need surgery.

“Yeah, we faced frustrations at times, but you know what I keep telling the team? At least we’re not getting shot at,” Barrientos said Thursday in a phone interview from Virginia. “It’s just not that bad.

“We had more than our share of successes. I have grown so much better as a person in every way. Emotionally and mentally, I still have some demons that I fight with every day. But being out there, speaking, doing something for someone else — it changes people for the better. If we’re able to save one life during this trip, all the pain and all the separation would be worth it.”

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Wesley Barrientos and Jeremy Staat are pictured together south of Barstow, Calif., on day five of their journey. Barrientos is wearing an 8-pound Kevlar helmet to honor fallen soldiers from his unit.

‘One suicide is too many’The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that a veteran dies by suicide every 80 minutes. That equals out to an annual death toll of about 6,500 — more than all the U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since those conflicts began.

Staat and Barrientos talked again and again about these grim statistics at more than 100 speaking engagements along their bike route.

“We were trying to put things in perspective for people — that we lose more veterans here in America than we do in any combat zone due to suicide,” said Staat, a U.S. Marine veteran and retired NFL player who estimates that he will have ridden a total of about 3,400 miles by Memorial Day.

“We really did see people wake up about it,” Staat said. “We’d ride for five or six hours, then jump off and speak at two or three events. We worked our butts off.”

The issue of military suicides matters to Barrientos on a deeply personal level. In 2005, during his second of three deployments to Iraq, one of his fellow soldiers took his own life there.

“That’s why that issue is so close to me,” Barrientos said. “It can be really hard to talk to family members sometimes, but it’s so much better to talk to them and try to make a difference in their lives.”

Across the country, Barrientos and Staat tried to encourage fellow veterans not to give up and to seek help if they’re struggling. They also criticized the VA Department, describing the agency as inefficient and ill-prepared to serve veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who need help.

In statements and interviews with TODAY.com, VA officials acknowledged that they’re struggling to meet the needs of the nearly 1 million veterans who returned home in recent years and began using VA benefits or services. But they, too, stressed how hard they’ve been working to help veterans in crisis: beefing up mental-health services, offering a host of specialized treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and substance-abuse problems, and launching a suicide-prevention hotline that’s consistently in high demand.

That hotline — 1-800-273-TALK (8255), option “1” — has received more than 600,000 calls and has saved the lives of more than 20,000 veterans who were actively in the process of hurting themselves, said Janet Kemp, the VA’s national mental health program director for suicide prevention.

“We’ve sent out emergency support to people who … have taken pills or are holding guns,” Kemp told TODAY.com. “We’ve shut down train stations if someone told us they were standing at a train track. We’ve pulled people off of bridges. People will give you one last opportunity to make a difference, and if you’re there and if you grab that opportunity, lives are saved.”

Kemp said that in thousands of less sensational but still critical situations, VA crisis line workers have been able to connect hurting veterans with treatment and support.

“If someone calls from Albuquerque, someone in that area will call them and connect with them, offer to meet them at a coffee shop or whatever’s comfortable for the veteran, to get them involved in treatment,” Kemp said.

Linda Hamilton

Jeremy Staat is pictured in the foreground on day one of the Wall to Wall Cross Country Bicycle Ride. Staat wound up being the only cyclist who was able to complete the entire journey because he didn't sustain any serious injuries. "It's lonely when you're out there riding alone," he said.

Much like Barrientos and Staat, Kemp is motivated by a strong emotional pull and a sense of duty to do whatever can be done to prevent veterans from taking their own lives.

“Far too many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are dying by suicide,” she said. “One is too many. … It’s a tragedy, after you fought for your country and put your life in danger, to come home and take your own life.”

‘It meant the world’Barrientos and Staat said they’ll never forget the veterans, school kids, college students and other supportive people they met during their epic cross-continental trek. Barrientos confessed that he was moved to tears when a Vietnam veteran living in a veterans’ home in Boulder City, Nev., cried and told them that their visit was the best thing that had happened to him in seven years.

“We’re just riding bikes — we’re nothing special, we’re nobodies — and he said that to us,” Barrientos said. “That was a very emotional day. It meant the world.”

At another veterans’ home, Staat and Barrientos met a World War II veteran who talked with them about the two years he spent as a prisoner of war in Germany. He weighed 200 pounds when he was captured — and less than 100 pounds when he was rescued.

The cycling veterans kept having goose-bump-inducing experiences in town after town. At one spot in Arkansas, dozens of children ran toward them, waving small flags and cheering.

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Wesley Barrientos, left, Kern County, Calif., Supervisor Mike Maggard, center, and Jeremy Staat, right, are pictured together in Camp Lejeune, N.C., on day 91 of the cross-country ride. Maggard rode with Staat for a bit while visiting his son in the area.

“To see a whole bunch of elementary school kids saying ‘thank you’ and ‘God bless America’ as you ride by — it’s incredible,” Barrientos said.

One of the most moving moments of all happened when they visited Fort Campbell, Ky. — Barrientos’ duty station. The U.S. Army veteran hadn’t been to Fort Campbell since 2007, when he left for his third deployment to Iraq. During that deployment, he lost both his legs to a roadside explosion.

“We got to go to my battalion area to see my unit’s memorial,” Barrientos said. “It has a lot of names of guys killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

He said he was overcome when he saw the names of close friends who died in 2006, and he left a “killed in action” bracelet at the memorial in their honor.

The next big moment for the cross-country cyclists will be at 1 p.m. ET Monday, when they’ve been invited to be present with Obama at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

“It will be an incredible experience to meet the President, but we’re there to honor the Vietnam guys and say thank you,” Barrientos said. “We didn’t take care of those guys when they came back, even though they did so much for us and for our country. … This is why I wanted to sign up for this trip. I just wanted to thank those guys for everything.”

To get help for yourself or someone you love who may be at risk for suicide, see the blue box above for a hotline number and other resources.

Video: Army suicide report highlights 'high-risk' behavior

Transcript of: Army suicide report highlights 'high-risk' behavior

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:Because of two separate stories tonight on two separate fronts, this was a dark day for many of those who proudly wear
Army
green. We learned today about the extent of mismanagement on some hallowed American ground,
Arlington National Cemetery
. This involves the remains of those who gave everything they had to this country. And something else, the number two ranking general in the
Army
, a man fresh from the battlefield himself, came out with a tough report today on the toll of our dual wars. Multiple combat tours, multiple wounds and deep troubles for the proud ranks of the
US Army
. We begin with our
Pentagon
correspondent
Jim Miklaszewski
.
Jim
, good evening.

JIM MIKLASZEWSKI reporting:Good evening,
Brian
. Based on this new report, the
Army
again promises to fix its mental health problems and put the soldiers first. But it's got a
long way to go
. As a specialist in the
Army
,
Jennifer Crane
was sent off to
Afghanistan
.

Specialist JENNIFER CRANE:Two weeks after we landed there, we were attacked
for the first time
.

MIKLASZEWSKI:The war took a heavy personal toll. Once back home, she got hooked on cocaine and ended up on the streets.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Jennifer
got the necessary counseling and is back on her feet. But a devastating new report from the
Army
today reveals that, after nine years of war, thousands of soldiers never survive their own personal battles.

General PETER CHIARELLI (Army Vice Chief of Staff):We have an
Army
that's been fully engaged for almost nine years now. I don't think that we fully understand the toll that that's taken on the force.

MIKLASZEWSKI:The numbers are staggering. Last year more than
1700
soldiers attempted suicide; 160 succeeded, the highest number in 30 years. And
drug abuse
is a huge problem. Of 64,000 felonies and noncombat deaths, 72 percent were drug related. More than
1300
soldiers have failed two or more
drug tests
, but are still on active duty today. But how could this happen? The report suggests it's a failure of leadership. To meet the demands of two wars, the
Army
lowered its standards for new recruits. And
Army
officials admit that combat commanders were under so much pressure to get soldiers into battle, they often overlooked disciplinary problems, even criminal activity.

Gen. CHIARELLI:Because of everything that we're doing, we have not paid the attention we need to on high-risk behavior.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Armed with this new report, the
Army
pledges to restore some of the basic leadership that's been lost while fighting two wars and, more importantly, put the well-being of their soldiers first.

But the Army came under fire for another issue today:Arlington National Cemetery
.

Senator JON TESTER (Democrat, Montana):This is not only totally unacceptable, it is a black eye.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Angry senators grilled the cemetery's former leadership, demanding to know how more than 200 graves could have been mismarked or have no headstones at all. Senator
Claire McCaskill
said the actual number could be as high as 6600.

Senator CLAIRE McCASKILL:We've lost the bodies of our fallen heroes. We've got cremated remains that we don't even know who they belong to! This is not complicated. It's called keeping track of who you bury where.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Former superintendent
John Metzler
accepted responsibility. His deputy
Thurman Higginbotham
refused to even answer most questions, invoking the
Fifth Amendment
.
The Army
has launched its own criminal investigation, even as it promises to restore the dignity owed to the nation's fallen. And in still one more story out of the
Army
tonight,
Pentagon
officials tell
NBC News
that 22-year-old Private
1st Class Bradley Manning
, suspected of leaking a classified video to
WikiLeaks
, is on his way tonight from
Kuwait
to
Washington
,
DC
, where he's expected to face court martial for mishandling of classified material. Now,
Manning
is also considered
a person of interest
in this latest
WikiLeaks
story.
Pentagon
officials also say that essentially
Manning
has been placed under suicide watch out of fear that he may harm

himself. Brian:Jim Miklaszewski
on duty for us at the
Pentagon
to start things off tonight.
Jim
,